Protection of forests as a means of mitigating climate change has commanded outsized attention at recent United Nations climate conferences. Not surprisingly, Latin America has applauded. The region, after all, possesses the largest tropical forest area in the world. As such, it ranks as the world’s leading recipient of funds for a forest-conservation mechanism known as REDD, or Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, under which developed countries pay rainforest nations to curb destruction of their woodlands. That’s why many Latin American governments felt dismay when a spat arose over REDD at last month’s UN climate conference in Doha, Qatar. The disagreement, over who should be in charge of verifying the amount of carbon dioxide that forest-conservation projects prevent from entering the... [Log in to read more]
